Sunday, January 26, 2014

I had to call my brother the minute I saw the headline in this story about me in the Indianapolis Star. I read the headline out loud and sure enough, he laughed until he started coughing and had to stop for fear he might lose consciousness. Or worse.

Perhaps you've had that experience of laughing with someone, especially a family member, so hard you have some understanding of the phrase, "died laughing."

In our family system, to "worry" about something or someone is to show love for it.

Our mom worries a lot. I mean all the time. We kid her about it.

When she says, "I worry about you, Jim," I respond, "I love you too, mom."

One time I took a trip to California. When I returned I called her and mentioned I'd taken this trip.

"Already?" she cried, because she knew I was going at some point. "I'm so sorry I didn't worry about you while you were gone!"

See, for my mom, worrying is a magical system of protection. And, yes, she really means she loves me.

So, as you read this headline, substitute the word "worries" with the "loves." Jim Poyser loves the North Pole and he loves the rest of the planet. And he loves his mom, too.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Those who know me know I rarely drive a car. For better and/or
for worse, however, since I took my job as Executive Director at Earth Charter Indiana, I drive more than I have in years, because, well, I have further to
go.

For example, I recently drove to a school in Oaklandon, just
east of Indianapolis. It takes nearly 30 minutes by car, which means it would
have been quite the bicycle trip — especially given the paucity of bike paths
that direction. Carpooling was out of the question, and I daresay a bus journey
would have been a labyrinthine adventure.

So I drove my metal beast. It was, admittedly, a new area of
the city for me, and I was paying more attention to my directions and the
street signs than to a school zone speed sign.

You know what’s coming.

I was nabbed by a cop.

Issued a traffic ticket — my first ticket in a quarter
century.

So. I was going 37 in a 25 mph zone, and I paid my debt to
society. As you can see from the photo and my scrawled “Mea Carpa,” I’ll make no
excuses, though I will say this incident took place in the late morning. It’s
not like darling little urchins were cartwheeling across the road or anything.
In fact, there were no children to be seen. Anywhere. (Did I just make an
excuse? Sorry!)

I went on to visit the elementary school in Oaklandon where
students are learning all sorts of sustainability practices, from growing food
to planting trees to riding bikes. They are even wanting to build an aquaponics
system! (More on this school, later.)

On the way back home, I was mindful of the speed limit, you
can be sure. No matter how many cars went zooming past me, with impunity. And
it got me thinking. About kids. And cops. And danger and penalty.

While we can easily see the danger posed to kids from
speeding cars, it’s not always so easy to see the danger we’re creating with
our pollution — pollution from corporate farming, vehicles, industrial
processes and coal-fired plants.

When it comes to regulation of toxins emitted from industry,
there is simply not enough. There are thousands of chemicals in the environment
and in our food supply, but only a minimal percentage is tested. We need look
no further than the recent contamination of the Elk River in West Virginia,
where 300,000 people were not allowed to drink or bath in their water.

Giant farms emit massive amounts of pollution, from
fertilizer run-off to methane from belching, farting beasts. And coal plants
not only produce tons of toxins like mercury, they emit fossil fuel pollution that
is disrupting the climate.

Industry doesn’t want to regulate itself and politicians
generally don’t have the courage to try.

There is an effort to regulate coal plant emissions from
existing and future coal plants, but it may be too little too late for our kids
to grow up and enjoy the planet like previous generations did.

It seems we are hell-bent to compromise the lives of our
children with our unchecked pollution. Their futures are threatened; on this
trajectory, with water and food systems compromised and population growing, our
kids and grandkids will be spending all their time battling the weather and
sweating their survival.

Simply put, we are not living within the ecological
footprint of what the planet can provide.

Where is the cop with that
radar gun? The one that says slow down, driver,
let’s consider the safety of children.

Grab your radar guns, people. Let today be the day you are
start watching and calibrating and telling the captains of industry and the
politicians that abet them to slow down the spoiling of this planet. Our kids
are depending on us.